help with the end or ends...

[Gray]

I am at the point where I need to start wrapping up to my ending...I have three very good outlines for different endings. I've thought about leaving the first as a cliff hanger and then writing 3 more stories to complete the original. Kind of a pick your ending, with different histories woven through of main characters. This seems elaborate to even me...but unique? So should I go with the monumental task of writing four books to tell one story or spin the bottle and pick an end?

[Akuma]

You could just continue the four books without a cliff hanger.

Myself, I would suggest not going with a cliff hanger.
As effective as it may or may not be, people tend to hate it.

[CrankItTo11]

Cliffhangers are not satisfying.

[icerose]

If you have beta readers I would have them read what you have and suggest the endings you have and get feedback from them.

[Zolah]

My vote is NO cliffhanger. I read 'The Ruins of Ambray' by Melanie Rawn, and I was loving her and thinking she was the best writer I'd ever discovered, right up until the cliffhanger ending. I threw the book across the room and - I'm not kidding - I've never read a word she has written since. Don't do it.

[farfromfearless]

If I read a book with a cliff hanger, I won't buy the sequel or anything related. I invested my time in a story expecting a satisfying conclusion - what a waste of my $.

[Gray]

Wow, thanks for all the good feed back. It is settled NO CLIFF HANGERS!! The work is something I'm proud of and don't want to ruin it with a mistake like that.

[ChaosTitan]

I am at the point where I need to start wrapping up to my ending...I have three very good outlines for different endings. I've thought about leaving the first as a cliff hanger and then writing 3 more stories to complete the original. Kind of a pick your ending, with different histories woven through of main characters. This seems elaborate to even me...but unique?

Kinda like they did in the film "Clue?" Different versions of how it could have ended?

I wouldn't. Readers want to be told what happens to the characters, not what *might* happen.

So should I go with the monumental task of writing four books to tell one story or spin the bottle and pick an end?

Neither. Pick the ending that best suits the book. If you have to write all four endings to decide, do it. Endings should be dictated by the characters, their actions, and reactions. Have you consulted your characters in this matter? :D

[Chasing the Horizon]

Endings should be dictated by the characters, their actions, and reactions. Have you consulted your characters in this matter? :D Excellent advice. I was having a very hard time thinking of a satisfactory ending for my trilogy. I kept changing it around, but it never felt 'right'. I finally stopped and listened to exactly what my characters were saying. When I did this, all the pieces just came together.